


Cindernette

by adrinette247



Series: Miraculous Fairytales [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cinderella Fusion, F/M, Marinette is Cinderella
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2018-10-26 23:42:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10797219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adrinette247/pseuds/adrinette247
Summary: When Marinette's mother and father died, the Mayor of Paris, Andre Bourgeois adopted her, supposedly out of pity. Marinette is cruelly renamed Cindernette by her step family, and forced to become a servant to her stepfather and her stepsister, Chloe. She began to loose faith, until her best friend Alya, a fairy godmother, a certain Prince Adrien, a pumpkin and a messenger named Nino change everything...





	1. Prologue - Before Our Story Starts

Once upon a time there lived a baker and his wife. One day they had a little girl called Marinette. But when Marinette was two, tragedy struck the joyful household and her mother died.

When Marinette was five her father too, died, on that fateful September night. As the small child padded down the wooden stairs to wish her father goodnight, she discovered him collapsed on the floor. And all through the night whilst the wind howled, Marinette's crying could be heard as the orphan crumpled to the floor next to her father, whimpering as the fate finally set in and realization that she was all all alone hit her.

The mayor of the kingdom, Andre Bougouis was an extremely wealthy man and took pity on the kindhearted little girl and became her stepfather, but he had a spoilt, cruel little princess of a daughter named Chloé, who despised Marinette, who was also five, and who unfortunately became Marinette's stepsister...

This is where our story begins, Marinette is now fifteen but is still a kindhearted and caring girl, despite the illtreatment she receives from Chloé; but that is all about to change...


	2. Our Story Begins

Every day is the same. I wake up on the deflated piece of mattress by the glowing embers of the hearth after about two hours sleep. I check my face in the silver cat bowl just in case any ashes from the fire are there.

This is how my cruel stepsister Chloe gave me an even crueller nickname, Cindernette.

One morning, as I was getting the breakfast in bed for that spiteful, wicked stepsister of mine upstairs, and in my haste I hadn't checked for ash, and rushed upstairs. Chloe had a bedroom that orphans like me would die for, the room scattered in silks and lace and gold and gleaming white.

Most of this, she doesn't need, but my stepfather, Mayor Andre Bourgeois likes to spoil his little 'princess'.

But not me. I am like a forgotten shoe, just tossed into a corner, only bothered about when my wicked step family need something. If I do wrong, I get things thrown at me, you have no clue how many bruises I've had to deal with in the time I have lived in this mansion. Due to dealing with Chloe's temper for so long unfortunately I've developed a knack of blocking it out.

This morning, however was different.

It was about to change my life forever...


	3. Chloe's Dress Drama

Marinette was crying as she finished mopping the large marble floor. This wasn't the first time since she arrived at her stepfamily's home that she had been forced to work as a servant in their house, and she doubted it would be the last.

"Cindernette!" screeched Chloe Bourgeois, her bedroom door flying open, flouncing out down the golden spiral staircase, her overly powdered face pale with white hot rage, like a poker that has been left in a fire, and her expression angry enough to send a grizzly bear running.

"Cindernette!" yelled Chloe again, reaching the last step and stomping her high heeled foot down on the the white marble floor, causing Marinette to leap backwards in fright, sending her flying, the worn mop, that looked like it was about to snap in two any minute, falling from her hand clattering to the floor, and Marinette landing painfully on the floor and drenching her dirtied, ripped pink and cream pinafore as she knocked over the old, rusting metal bucket behind her, the water pooling into a puddle on the already slippery floor.

Marinette climbed off of the soaking floor, the ragged ends of her dress dripping wet, trailing even more water and soap studs on the floor she had just cleaned, picking up her mop carefully, only to slip on the water and fall down again in front of her extremely angry stepsister.

"Maritrash you are so very lazy!" shrilled Chloé, grabbing hold of her arm and shaking her, the sharply tipped nails imprinting deep v shapes into Marinette's thin arm, "Just look at this!" she snarled producing the dress Marinette hung in her bedroom earlier and shoved one sleeve in Marinette's face.

"What's wrong with your dress miss?" asked Marinette as politely as she could manage, wincing as she eyed the drees. It was perfectly clean and had just been pressed.

"What's wrong!" Chloe repeated patronizingly, "When you ironed my darling new dress from daddy you left a wrinkle on this sleeve!" she moaned, pointing out the miniscule wrinkle in the very edge of the sleeve, before handing it back to Marinette, who had dropped the mop again, and took it from her, her eyes wide and her mouth open in disbelief.

Then Chloe, who had lifted her hand to her blonde haired head dramatically as if she was about to faint, just like a princess in a fairytale, didn't think she had yelled enough at Marinette this morning continued to moan, "I can't wear a pretty dress out shopping with such a great wrinkle in it! I won't be able to think about anything else!" she complained weakly, her light yellow frilly skirts draping over everything around her as she waltzed into the dining room, sitting tiredly down on the spindly golden dining chair, whilst screaming at an exhausted Marinette, who was putting away the mop and bucket, to fix her rosehip tea and a croissant.

Suddenly, a loud, but polite, knock sounded on the thin, beautifully embellished front door, stopped the slight servant girl in her tracks...


	4. A Ball?

Before Chloe had the chance to scream at her again, Marinette hastily opened the front door, blinking out into the suprisingly bright morning sunlight, at the stranger on the doorstep expecting some sort of taxman or the part time cook and her best friends mother, Mrs. Cesaire, because according to Chloe, Marinette's cooking was too peasant like for her.

What she got was the shock of her life.

Standing in front of her was a palace messenger, around her age with short black hair, tanned skin and kind whiskey brown eyes, with what was clearly a message from the palace, on her doorstep. Her doorstep! 

"Uh, miss?" the messenger asked politely, waving a gloved hand in front of her frozen, shocked face, "Are you alright?"

Realising she was gaping, Marinette quickly shook the freeze and replied "Yes, fine thank you. I'm Marinette, who are you?"

"Name's Nino," the boy grinned proudly, "Nice to meet you Marinette. But I didn't come to drop some beats, I came with a message from the palace. All eligible maidens are invited to Prince Adrien's birthday ball at the palace tomorrow evening. King Gabriel and the Queen are trying to find him a suitable wife." Nino held out the crested invitation to Marinette, who took it eagerly, albeit confused, as to why the King would look for the Prince's wife among commoners. It probably wasn't King Gabriel's idea, she knew that much. The Queen and Prince Adrien cared a lot about the commoners they ruled, not just the nobility like King Gabriel.

"Thank you Nino" she said, gazing down at the expensive paper in her hand, waving goodbye to Nino who waved back, walking back the way he came down the path.

Marinette shut the door slowly, leaning back against the wood, daydreaming about the amazing things that could happen to her at the royal ball. The royal ball! There would be waltzing and macaroons like the ones she used to make with her parents in the family bakery, and she would even see Alya, her best friend she only met occasionally, and by occasionally it was more like every half a year. Marinette was hardly ever let out of the house, she might talk and start gossip, and albeit very true rumours about the Bourgeois. She might even meet Prince Adrien, she'd had a, really tiny, gigantic crush on him for years now. 

She opened her eyes from her wonderful dream to discover that she had twirled into the centre of the vast hallway, with Chloe right in her face, trying to pry the envelope out of her small hands, which currently clutched the invitation into her chest.

Finally retrieving the envelope out of Marinette's tight grip, whilst muttering quite colourful insults about her under her breath, Chloe's icy eyes scanned the paper, for once her steel like eyes holding a faint spark of joy. She stopped cursing Marinette under her breath as her face lit up like a Christmas Tree, dazedly shoving the cup of tea into Marinette's hand, for once gently as she spun, plopping gracefully down onto the white sofa, an explosion of garish yellow against the cotton coloured suede. Sighing dramatically, she raised her voice calling excitedly and incessantly for her father to come down this instant.

That was when the Mayor's bedroom door banged open with a resultant crash.


	5. Going to the Ball? Part 1

If there was anything in the world that frightened Marinette than Chloe's temper, it was her father's. Clearly it was an inherited trait Chloe got from her father. Sometimes Marinette contemplated if Chloe's mother was exactly like her daughter and husband, or if she was sincerely kind and loving. Sometimes Marinette wondered that if Chloe's mother was around, would Chloe have turned out differently, instead of the spoilt, tantrums-get-me-what-I-want girl she was? 

Andre, clearly believing that Marinette had done something to upset or provoke Chloe, because apparently everything wrong with the world was Marinette's fault, came thundering down the stairs towards her. Marinette winced at the sound of his feet stomping on the marble stairs, wondering if one day, he would stamp down on them so hard, it would crack and crumble underneath him into a heap of marble and gold metal. 

Backing hastily away when Andre reached the bottom step, clearly on a mission to erupt in her face about errors and gratitude, Chloe unintentionally became Marinette's saviour by prancing around excitedly in front of her father, squealing in delight as he took the letter out of her outstretched hand and read it carefully. 

"Chloe dear this is wonderful news!" he muttered gleefully, clearly scheming or working something out in his head, "This is my little girl's big chance!"

"I know!" shrieked Chloe hysterically, swaying around in circles, "Daddy, I'm going to be a Princess!"

"Yes, of course you will dear. Nobody could possibly outshine you, no peasants or servants and the like invited. They must of course be someone of nobility or power, clearly King Gabriel knows that. This little stunt of admitting the townspeople to such a large and important celebration is most likely just to please the Queen and Prince Adrien, they seem to have such an undying affection for those ragged peasants. I really can't quite understand it."

"It really is quite shocking that they would let Maritrash's sort into Adrikins birthday party! He'll choose me of course, we are such good friends from childhood Daddy!"

"Most certainly. And of course Gabriel would approve. We are the two biggest powers in the whole of Paris, maybe even France. We must make sure you have something positively stunning to wear. Cindernette..."

"Please can I go to the ball?" Marinette suddenly blurted out, cutting into the conversation maybe even a little against her own will. She was forever fearful of what Chloe and Andre's reactions would be.

"What!?" Andre looked appalled for a moment, Chloe covered her mouth to stifle mocking giggles. But then the Mayor's expression changed, a truly evil smile replacing the distressed frown previously coating his face. "Well, you may Cindernette." Marinette's heart leapt for joy, Chloe shrieked, blanching at the mere thought of Marinette at a royal ball. "However," the mayor cut in sternly over Chloe's horrified scream, "Only if you do the washing, ironing, clean the windows and scrub the floors, do the cooking, help Chloe find a dress and help her get ready, and of course, you may only go if you find something suitable to wear by tomorrow night. Do you understand Cindernette?" he barked at her. Marinette, was too happy to care and nodded excitedly. Chloe finally clicked as to what was going on, a smirk also forming on her face as Marinette went dreamily back to her housework.

It truly was a dream come true. 

But of course, as always in her life living with the Bourgeois', it was too good to be true.

By that evening, Marinette finished half of the housework, and had run into town and ordered Chloe's dress to be delivered the next morning. She knew it was hard work, but then she knew it was definitely worth it if she got just one evening to spend in luxury, dancing her heart out at the ball. She didn't sleep that night either. Trudging tiredly up the stairs into the attic she called home, she found her mother's old pink dress that she loved. It would definitely be suitable if Marinette made a few adjustments to it. She knew she wouldn't have time the next day, so she worked her way through the night, through the moon and stars and darkness, until the sun began to rise on the horizon. And when Marinette looked at her finished creation, she knew it was worth it.

The dress was now a light pink ballgown, Marinette's signature colour, the top half adorned with darker pink roses, which were surrounded by sequins and sparkles, dotting around each rose. The very bottom of the skirt was also lined with the same glimmering pink roses. With her mother's simple gold necklace and the rose hair clip holding her hair up in a bun, Marinette knew it was going to be just perfect for the ball. Maybe even prettier than Chloe's rather expensive gown. 

The rest of the day, Marinette finished her chores and helped Chloe get ready for that evening. She even managed to get a nap long enough to stop her collapsing from exhaustion and tiredness at the ball, but also long enough for her to enjoy every second of it.

By the time the carriage had drawn up in front of the mansion that evening, Marinette was all ready to go, her stunning ballgown swirling with elegance around her ankles, surprisingly light weight. Her blue hair was up in a bun and a pair of light pink high heels she also found in her mother's box were firmly on her feet. She rushed down the stairs, and out the front door, shutting it quickly behind her, making a dash for Chloe, who was clad in a disturbingly bright black, white and yellow concoction of a ballgown, that made her rather look like a bumble bee.

She was living her dream. It was really like a fairytale. Happiness filled her as she lifted her skirts and ran as fast as she could towards the front gate.


	6. Going to the Ball? Part 2

She lifted her skirts and ran as fast as she could down the front path towards the carriage, halting smoothly next to her stepfather at the gate. Towards her dream.

Andre glanced down from his position next to the polished black gates and smiled down at her.

The kind of smile that sends shivers down people's spines. All except

Niaeve, smiling, sweet Marinette.

"Why child," he muttered, reaching and swiftly closing the gate with a snap. What a coincidence that it just happened to be right behind where Marinette was standing, sending her flying forwards into the pool of mud she was safely out of the way from mere seconds ago, "You can't possibly go to the ball in that old rag!" Andre finished and with that they all began his laughing at the poor girl on the gravel, slightly dazed from the sudden fall. It sounded more like they were disgraced to be related to her than guilty for what they had just done.

What a surprise that Marinette's beautiful, pink flowered dress, the one she had spent every spare second she got working on, yes that beautifully crafted concoction was covered in dollops of gloopy, brown mud.

Chloe began tutting mockingly, before giggling shamelessly at Marinette's expense. Andre, smirking, turned his head away from the tearful eyed, mud covered 'servant', before airily stepping into the carriage, giving the coachman snappy orders.

The sounds of hooves clopping and wheels clicking along filled Marinette's ears as she watched the coach beginning to move. Fumbling, she shakily rose to her feet, trying to chase after the coach. But it was too late. Her dress was ruined and most unsuitable for a royal ball, and the coach was almost out of sight from what should be her mansion. But instead it was just an inheritance snatched from her hands by her cruel stepfamily.

Marinette stared helplessly into the distance, her dream, to for once be a treated like the lady she was, like when she was very little playing dress up and her mother and father and she and her childhood friend Alya pretended they were princess', had too been taken from her in that carriage. When the coach was finally no more than a speck against the backdrop of the deep blue midnight sky, she finally allowed herself to cry. She was alone. No one cared about her. But at least she had nobody to mock the fact that she finally gave in to her cruel life, finally lost the sense of hope she always had before.

 

She didn't believe anymore.


	7. Tikki

Marinette had run all the way to the back of the house, before collapsing like a broken doll beside the fountain, sobbing into the smooth stone, her tears dripping into the water in rythmic ripples towards the centre of the fountain, the rest of her tears pooling onto her lap, soaking through her ruined dress, adding even more stains to the once beautiful dress.

Marinette curled in on herself, as if to protect herself from the cruel, dark world; her mind and heart consumed in a blaze of grief and heartbreak and pain and disbelief.

All of a sudden, there was a gentle tap on her shoulder.

"Little ladybug, why are you crying?" a melodious voice asked, her tone sweet and kind, and concerned.

Marinette looked up and her face twirled from disbelief and shock, to relief and excitement.

On the side of the fountain next to her sat a young woman with deep red hair, a gentle smile gracing her features. She wore a spotted print dress, much like a ladybug, Marinette had thought. But most of all what shocked her was the light pink wings on the woman's back, and the golden pink wind glowing lightly in her porcelain white hand.

"Who... Who are you?" Marinette spluttered confused, even though she had a feeling what the answer would.

"I'm Tikki!" The lady said brightly, "But of course you know what I am, don't you Marinette,"

"H-how do you know my name?" she sniffed, trying to brush away the tears that dotted her face like stars and steady her voice.

"Why, I'm your kwami godmother of course!" Tikki smiled, and produced a light pink handkerchief out of thin air with a wave of her wand. Tikki proceeded to pluck it out of the air, the floppy material trailing crimson red sparkles in the breeze like tiny fairies flying in the wind;

"Kwami... godmother... like mama used to tell me stories of?"

"Yes dear, now dry those tears, I'm going to help you go to the ball."

"But, how Tikki? There's not enough time, the ball's about to begin!" Marinette panicked.

Tikki smiled, and pointed her wand at some mice that had crowded close to the scene to try and cheer up Marinette.

"Spots on!" She said, and the mice transformed into four beautiful white horses that now stood in front of Marinette.

"That's how, Marinette dear, now, do you have any pumpkins?"

"Yes, over here..." Marinette gestured for Tikki to follow her, still dazed about what indeed was going on, and led her towards the family pumpkin patch.

With Marinette's help, Tikki found the best pumpkin and moved it towards the horses, flicking her wand towards it and again saying "Spots on!"

The pumpkin began to shake and quiver, and in a shower of pale pink sparkles and a rush of ladybugs, there stood a red crystal carriage, with a beautiful light pink interior, much more beautiful than any carriage Marinette had ever seen in her life.

"There" Tikki smiled at Marinette's awe struck face, glad to help the poor girl.

Five minutes later, Marinette and Tikki were standing next to the carriage, with the four horses attached to the front and rearing to go, two ladybugs that Tikki had transformed into footmen waiting to hold open the door to Marinette, and a cat that had been prowling around the fences and gates of the house as a driver, sitting up front waiting for the order to drive on.

Marinette was amazed at all the magic surrounding her, and how lucky she was to have a kwami godmother like Tikki.

"And now for your dress Marinette dear." Tikki turned towards her, looking her destroyed dress up and down and her shoes, sizing her up for whatever she was going to do.

"I have the perfect thing!" She announced, drawing a pair of black earrings from a little pocket concealed on her dress, and she handed them over to Marinette.

"Now listen carefully Marinette. Put these on and say spots on, and the earrings will transform your outfit into something suitable for the royal ball. But remember, all of this," Tikki gestured to the carriage and horses, "Including your outfit, will become undone at midnight. Miracles can't last forever I'm afraid. I must be off now dear. Good luck Marinette sweetie, and don't forget, on the last stroke of midnight the spell will be undone, and all will go back to the way it was. Goodbye, and good luck my little ladybug."

And within a whirlwind of glowing red ladybugs, and a shower of pink sparkles, Tikki disappeared, gone with the breeze.

Marinette stood shocked for a second, staring at the spot where Tikki had stood moments ago, before she finally took the simple black earrings in her hand, and put them into her ears, repeating the words that Tikki told her to use,

"Spots on!"


	8. Chat Noir

Adrien was still in shock.

Earlier in his room, he had been sulking about being forced into this marriage ball thing, even though it was supposed to be more about his birthday, he knew his father and mother, were trying to find him a wife. He was only 15! Even though he loved his parents dearly, they forced him into this, into this perfect postured, piano playing, fencing (even though he enjoyed that), multilingual prince. Except that wasn't who he was truly. It was just the perfect persona his parents wanted him to be. He wanted to be free. He wanted to be able to be who he truly was, even for only one day, and that was his birthday wish. It had been his wish for many years now, and he doubted it would ever change. As long as he was a prince or some part of royalty, he would never be free.

But a boy, not much older than him, had appeared from the shadows in his room. He wore a black suit, shining black leather shoes and a black top hat, with small cat ears poking out on the brim. And he had changed everything for Adrien that night.

That night he wouldn't be Prince Adrien, he would be Chat Noir.

When Adrien had asked the boy who he was, the boy told him his name was Plagg and he was his fairy godfather. That he was here to help him.

Adrien had just gaped at him with his mouth open, half wanting to believe, the other half telling him this was just some bogus con. But when Plagg handed him a plain silver ring and told him to put it on he got the shock and delight of his life at the same time.

His fairy godfather then proceeded to tell him that he was going to be able to be a different persona named Chat Noir that would allow him to live a little and enjoy his birthday without girls fighting each other to try and marry him. He told him the outfit would last until midnight, or until there are no green paws left on the face of the ring. At first, Adrien didn't understand, until Plagg told him to say "Claws Out!" and the transformation took effect. Plagg was sucked into the ring to his surprise, and a green light overtook his whole body. When he looked down, he discovered that he was wearing a classic black suit, white shirt and black shoes. He had a purely black mask covering the top of his face, with cat eats on his head, to match the persona. I mean its a cat-astrophic persona if you don't live up to it, am I right or am I right? The ring had turned black too, and on the face of the watch was a green cat paw, and the pad was beginning to blink. Then he understood. Silently thanking Plagg, who made him jump by replying back to Adrien inside his head, Adrien quietly exited his room, the door clicking quietly shut.

Now was Adrien's time to live a little....

♡

Marinette had stepped out of the pink interior of the carriage right into the grandeur of Paris. The palace steps and then the palace itself loomed over the carriage, making Marinette feel extremely small.

The footman closed the door for her and bowed. She told the coachman that she she would be back at the carriage just before midnight, and began her ascent up the blinding white staircase towards the staircase.

When she reached the top, she couldn't help but admire the statues and the fountains and the gold details and the extremely white marble of the palace. She took a deep breath, tried to compress her nerves and excitement, and walked through the gates and past the guards.

She was already late as it was. And her nerves were dancing around in her stomach like butterflies. So it didn't help when she reached the end of the extremely lit, vast hallway and appeared at the top of the large, flowing staircase, that everyone in the ballroom froze, staring at her, some in awe, most in envy and shock. Even the music stopped. You could have heard a pin drop. Gathering her courage, she began to descend the long, winding marble staircase to the dancefloor...

♡

Adrien was talking to his best friend Nino, when all of a sudden the entire ballroom went completely silent.

Adrien looked up and saw why.

Standing at the top of the ballroom stairs stood the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

She had midnight blue hair, held up in an elegant bun by a glowing red rose hair clip, sky blue eyes that seemed to take in everything, and a red and black spotted mask, much like a ladybug, covering most of her porcelain skin.

She was dressed in a huge, elegant ruby red ballgown, so long that it touched the floor,  which was covered in glowing black roses, so small they looked like black spots, and when she began to descend the staircase, the many skirts of the dress seemed to flow elegantly back and forth around her, so much so that it looked like she was dancing already.

He was, simply put, mesmerized by this beautiful girl that he didn't even know, and before he knew it, he was dazedly abandoning Nino and walking towards the mystery girl.

"A dance my lady?"

♡

"A dance my lady?"

The boy addressing her was dressed in all in black with a simple black mask to match.

His glowing green eyes were shining brightly at her in the dim light, and Marinette noticed that within his messy golden blonde hair, was a pair of jet black cat ears.

After staring at him in shock for a moment, she politely excepted and took his hand as he led her onto the dance floor and into the waltz, the ruffled blonde hair under the black cat ears glinting like gold in the candlelights.

"If you don't mind me asking, who might you be sir?"

He was not taken aback at all, and provided Marinette with a most unusual response,

"I, my lady, am Chat Noir."


	9. Chasing Midnight

They twirled elegantly around the grand dancefloor for what seemed like hours, entranced by each other as they waltzed their way out of the centre of the crowd of dancing nobles and commoners alike and out onto the balcony beyond the ballroom, seating themselves on the golden palace bench.

They joked flirtatiously amongst themselves, Chat Noir adding quite a few cheesy cat puns in for good measure - which earned him a sarcastically irked but genuinely fond eyeroll from Ladybug.

They both exchanged rather unrevealing but, between the two, extremely relatable stories from their ordinary lives - Chat discovering that Ladybug felt just as trapped as he did on the inside, unable to express her true personality.

He listened as she told him of her dream to become a fashion designer - explaining some of her most intricate clothing designs in vivid detail - eyes glazed over, a dreamy smile on her face.

Until reality seemed to hit her, and her face fell.

She sighed.

“But it would never happen Chat.”

He frowned down at her masked face, “Why ever not My Lady? You sound like you would be a wonderful designer!” Adrien could feel himself smile encouragingly at her under the mask.

“I don’t really want to talk about it right now…” she pondered, lost in her thoughts. Although Chat didn’t know the reason that she couldn’t achieve her seemingly obtainable dream, whatever it was he felt angry towards those responsible for not allowing her creations to be realised.

Ladybug seemed to snap out of her daze after that, composing her face into a rather convincing mask, “What about you Chaton?” A small smile graced her face once more, “What do you want to do with the rest of your life?”

He stared at her shocked and taken aback for a second before responding, “I don’t really know My Lady. Nobody’s ever asked me that before.”

She gripped onto his hand tighter in response, patting it with her other gloved hand sympathetically.

“Well, I’m asking you now.” she whispered gently - her concerned face so close he could feel her breath on his face.

“A baker,” he eventually decided upon, “I’ve always wanted to try and make these delicious cheese tarts that are served for breakfast.”

Ladybug laughed - but not unkindly - at him “Silly Kitty - you can’t be a baker with no experience!”

“My Lady, I’m paw-sitively certain that I’d make a fantastic baker!” he exclaimed, faking offence.

She elbowed him playfully in the side at the awful pun, causing them to have to stifle giggles with their gloved hands - in case more haughty company happened to appear on the balcony and take offence.

“Maybe I could teach you some time Chaton.”

Chat’s face lit up, his smile catlike, “I would like that.”

“Me too, silly kitty.”

They didn’t speak for a while after that, gazing together in the comfortable silence at the beautiful night sky above them - the glittering blanket of stars and bright full moon lighting up the darkness around them in a beauty that even the shimmer and sparkle of the candle lit chandeliers of the ballroom couldn’t mimic.

But the question of each other’s identities played on their minds.

To Marinette, Chat was debonair and charming and genuinely kind - whilst being funny and able to make silly puns whilst he was at it. It was everything she never found in anyone she’d ever met. After all, the only person who truly cared about her in her life was Alya.

To Adrien, this mysterious Ladybug girl was poise and grace - intelligent and charming and witty.

To put it simply - they were in love with each other.

They were pulled out of their reveries by a sudden hysterical shouting from inside.

“Prince Adrien is missing! He was not in his rooms when I went to fetch him!” the frantic voice of Adrien’s butler exclaimed loudly from inside - causing a wave of horrified gasps throughout the dancers - loud enough that it seeped under the closed balcony doors and into the night air.

Adrien groaned internally, Of course. He was supposed to make his entrance an hour ago. _Oh shi-_

Even Ladybug seemed alarmed by the abrupt news. Adrien - not wishing to get in any more trouble than he already was in - rose quickly to his feet, gently pulling the red spotted girl up with him.

“Chat? Where are we going?”

Adrien winced - he wanted to reveal his identity, but he feared that Ladybug may view him differently once she discovered he was Prince Adrien.

But then he realized the genuine care and trust Ladybug had exhibited towards him without even knowing his identity. And his fears disapparated into thin air.

“I’m being called. My mother and father will be worried.”

She stared at him intently, despite the confusion on her features, “I don’t understand Chaton.”

“Claws in.”

Ladybug squeezed her eyes shut as a blinding green flash consumed him, the cat ears and fancy black mask turning to mist - exposing his true identity to her.

She blinked at him, mouth agape in utter shock, “Chat? You’re Prince Adrien?”

He nodded apprehensively at her, but remained silent.

Unfortunately, he never really gaged the beautiful bluenette’s true reaction because at that moment, the clock began to chime.

It was midnight.

Ladybug stared at the clock in alarm, “I'm sorry Chaton, but I have to go. Thank you for a wonderful time, I'll never forget it." she murmured, dashing forwards and kissing Adrien on the cheek for a fleeting second before rushing past him, running headlong down the the balcony steps and towards the front gate and her awaiting carriage.

Adrien stood shell shocked for a moment before chasing determinedly after her, but despite his efforts Ladybug managed to rush into her carriage speed away, and chased out into the streets of Paris by the palace guard on Adrien’s direct orders.

In fact , the only time Adrien got remotely close to catching the mystery girl was when she lost her shoe on the steps.

The same beautiful red glass slipper he now held in his hands.


	10. Locked Away

Marinette tumbled out onto the now squashed, decaying pumpkin, her beautiful ballgown swirling in a red glow until it was replaced by her extremely ragged pink gown. The ladybug mask faded away into nothingness from her face, and her hair fell in rivulets down her back, the rose hair clip clattering onto the gravel beside it. The coachman and footman had disappeared back into ladybugs and a cat, and the horses turned back into mice, who were now scurrying quickly away into the darkness of the shrubberies. Tikki was long gone too, but when Marinette looked up into the sky, she saw an extremely bright shooting star, glowing a gentle pink, spiralling gracefully across the night sky. Marinette had no doubt in her mind that it was Tikki, and she silently thanked her for all she had done for her.

As Marinette rose from the ground, realising she had little time before her stepfamily arrived home from the ball, she went to run towards the house. But as soon as her foot touched the gravel she felt pain, as the sharp stones hit her foot. Looking down, she noticed that one of her feet were still bare, and greatest of all, her other beautiful red glass slipper hadn't been replaced with the soft pink heel she wore before the ball. Gently taking the slipper off her foot, the ladybug still glimmering a deep red, she held it to her chest and ran back to the house and up to her room, carefully hiding it under the many wonderful fabrics in her mothers box. After all, it was her one beautiful reminder of her night at the ball with Chat Noir, and that dreams really do come true.

Marinette had only just managed to change back into her work clothes and start looking like she had spent a few miserable hours cleaning, when Andre and Chloe stormed into the house, the door banging loudly. Andre displayed an angry calm, whilst Chloe was clearly seething with rage, malice cutting as sharp as a sword from her eyes as they stared at Marinette.

Marinette looked up from the floor she was cleaning, pretending to be concerned and asked them if they had a good time at the ball, knowing full well it was Chloe's greatest disaster.

"Good time!" shrieked Chloe, her voice rising so dangerously high it was almost ultrasonic, causing both Andre and Marinette to back away from her before she made their ears bleed, "Good time! The prince never danced with me, and this Ladybug girl was the centre of attention! She disappeared in this carriage. And the prince wants to marry her! The whole of Paris is looking for her!"

Marinette swooned a little, Prince Adrien wanted to marry her!

"Cindernette, as you can see, we are both exhausted and upset," Andre snapped wearily, "Bring Chloe and I a croissant and a cup of tea and then get to bed. And do try and make a decent cup of tea for once!"

With that, they both stormed up the stairs into their respective bedrooms, Chloe forcefully slamming the door behind her. 

Marinette stared after them with a sigh, and went to heat the water.

♡

The next morning, Andre had seemed to calm down about the whole situation at the ball, but Chloe was still raging about it. Especially since Nino had called by, and after having a short conversation with Marinette about Alya, who clearly must have mentioned she was friends with Marinette to Nino when they were dancing at the ball, gave her a letter from the palace, and went on to the next house with a friendly goodbye. Chloe snatched it out of her hands before Marinette had a chance to read it, screaming in horror as she read its contents, before fainting right there in the middle of the hall. Lucky for Chloe, Marinette caught her and the letter before either hit the hard, wet marble floor. 

According to a now apparently deeply disturbed Chloe, the letter had said that the King had decreed that every maiden in every house in the whole of Paris was to try on the glass slipper left by the Princess Ladybug at the ball to see who it would fit. The girl who fit the slipper would marry the prince.

Marinette knew this was her chance.

Her chance to finally be free.

♡

Alya stopped by later that afternoon, when Andre and Chloe were out at the market. Chloe apparently needed to go 'de-stress dress shopping'.

A gushing Alya retold all the events of last nights ball to Marinette, from her time with Nino, to the mysterious Ladybug who caught the Prince's attention. Marinette didn't have the heart to lie to Alya, they had been best friends since they were just infants, and Alya would never tell a secret, especially one as important as this. If Andre or especially Chloe found out, Marinette's chance at happiness was done for.

So Marinette told her everything.

Alya was shocked for one thing, but happy that she and Marinette might finally be going places in life, instead of stuck in the stations of a maid and a dishwasher for the rest of their lives

What neither knew was that a certain blonde, her new yellow dress discarded, was standing silently, right outside the kitchen door, listening to everything...

♡

Marinette's arms had been laden with hundreds of Chloe's dresses since the crack of dawn. None of them really needed washing or ironing at all, but she did it nonetheless, in fear of an assortment of sharp pointed shoes being thrown at her head.

In other words, Chloe's enormous high heel collection.

Her palms were cracked and dry from her hands constantly plunging into the hot water, her arms were sore and ached painfully from pushing the washing around the old wooden washer and trying to hold onto the large bundle of washing, and her eyes stung from the fumes of clothing cleaner floating towards her from the hole in the top of the washer.

And after she had finally finished all of that, she was graced with the task of having to prepare the dinner.

Marinette had attempted to avoid Chloe all day, her blonde stepsister was still in a foul mood over the whole Princess Ladybug affair. She was displaying a terrifyingly calm attitude to everything, like a bomb about to go off or the calm before the storm. And Marinette knew she definitely didn't want to be the one caught in the eye of Chloe's inevitable tornado of anger.

At present, Marinette was down in the mansion's cold cellar, looking for a good piece of meat for her step family's dinner, when a very familiar shadow appeared in the doorway, blocking most of Marinette's little, and only light from the candles alight in the kitchen above her.

She froze.

"Well, well... Look who we have down here. Maritrash."

Chloe.

Chloe's words no longer hurt Marinette, but the bluenette was becoming increasingly fearful of the extremely clipped tone in her stepsister's voice. It was blatantly obvious, to just about anyone, that Chloe was about to unleash her fury.

And to nobody's surprise, she was about to explode on the easiest target.

Marinette.

"So..." Chloe stood right in the middle of the doorway, gripping tightly onto the door handle so that there was no way for Marinette to escape, "How did you do it then?"

"What?"

"The word is pardon, not what!" snapped Chloe, producing the glass heel from behind her back "Don't you have any manners, Lady Froussard!"

Marinette gulped hard.

Chloe knew.

"Where-Where did you get that?" she stuttered, backing up, feeling rather like a tiny animal caught in front of a speeding carriage.

Her stepsister smiled devilishly down at her, completely ignoring her question.

"Your answer won't make a difference anyway. I just wanted to make sure I was right. I refuse to let you ruin my chances with Adrien!" Chloe roared, carelessly chucking the delicate shoe at Marinette and watching in satisfaction as it shattered into thousands of glittering red shards - like a broken dream - at the servant girl's feet.

"Oops !" Chloe exclaimed, sarcastic faux innocence coating her girlish voice as she observed the pile of glass, before slamming the door and locking it behind her, leaving Marinette alone to cry in the darkness, with only the sounds of Chloe's overly expensive heels clicking away on the floor and her cackling as she walked away breaking through the silence of the night.


End file.
